2000 children to serenade Pope in Palo

PALO, Leyte — Thousands of children will sing for Pope Francis when he arrives in Palo on Saturday, January 17.

At the end of the 11.5-kilomoter stretch of the pontiff’s motorcade from Tacloban to Palo will be a choir composed of at least two thousand children. They will serenade the papal motorcade by the wayside near the Palo cathedral.

The choral ensemble will sing a song of both Latin and English lyrics entitled “Amare et sevire” which means “In everything love and serve the Lord.”

These kids study at different elementary schools in Palo. Their teachers handpicked then and gave them voice assignments. Each division had to practice in their own school with a CD copy of the song with accompaniment and vocals. They finally gathered last week as a choir for daily practice.

“I am both excited because this is the first time a huge choir composed of kids is formed in Palo and challenged because I am tasked to make them all sound good,” says Mr. Giles Edgar Daya, the musical director of the ad hoc choir.

The kids will wear white shirts and pants. The boys will wear a scarf around the neck and the girls will put on flower headdresses. The choir will be situated on the right roadside of the Palo Municipal Hall where a riser has been prepared.

‘Mounting a choral ensemble composed of kids is not an easy task’, says Daya.

The elementary teachers in Palo and the artistic directors behind the Kasadyaan Festival of Leyte, such as Mr. Roland Calleja, Mr. Danny Lerios and Mr. Raul Novillo, who also made the musical arrangement, were in-charge of pulling off this grand production.

“Amare et sevire” is a personal pick of Palo Mayor Remedios ‘Matin’ Petilla and is actually a chant taken from the school anthem of Ateneo de Iloilo – Sta. Maria Catholic School. A longer version of the anthem is composed by Fr Manoling Francisco, SJ. —Rappler.com

Bert Malate is a Rappler Mover from Leyte.